Da!

The Lake Ognyanova Stunt - Dobrei? Ne.

Sadly, two cascadeurs, stuntmen trying to work their way out of poverty through risking their lives in order to make near-senile over-the-hill so-called "stars" such as Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger look good, were involved in an extremely dangerous stunt that went horribly wrong, as shooting of the sequel to "The Expendables" continued in Bulgaria, this past week-end.

The true expendable ones of the whole entreprise, the cascadeurs were in fact foreigners themselves and not Bulgarians who found temporary employment with this opportunity, at all.

Perhaps Stallone and Co. are clueless about the existence of such a thing as Bulgarian cascadeurs and, if such is the case, he really should see this...

Then again, why give temporary employment to the local, poverty-stricken folks - why risk their lives, too?

Whereas MTV had no clue as to the identity of the stuntmen involved in the tragic accident, the BBC released their names and confirmed by doing so their foreign ethnicity: the injured stuntman is named Nuo Sun. He was hurt while filming a stunt sequence in Lake Ognyanova, Bulgaria last week and has been taken to Germany for further treatment. His fellow stuntman, Kun Lieu, was killed in the incident. The stunt involved pyrotechnics and an inflatable boat upon a body of water, therefore - never a safe mix, even for the most experienced professionals.

"Our deepest condolences go to the family of Kun Lieu," film company Nu Image told the Hollywood Reporter shortly after, reports the BBC...

The Expendables sequel, which follows a short year after the first movie, and is simply titled "The Expendables 2" by the way, expands the roster of over-the-hill action "stars" by adding two more extremely familiar names of the genre: one of them is Jean-Claude Van Damme. And the other is... Chuck Norris. The one and the same Chuck Norris that has been the favorite subject of so many jokes in the last few years (the latest and perhaps greatest being that it was him that killed Osama Bin Laden, in fact: he killed him when he poked him on Facebook.)

Chuck Norris is often referenced whenever the Pumpkin's machismo comes into play - be it at any of the gazillion openings that he presides over or any time he opens his mouth and formulates another strange statement. The Pumpkin clearly models himself after Chuck Norris.

Norris being in town for the shooting of this umpteenth genre film, and there being elections at the same time, was just one heck of a funny coincidence - and it should not be simply this ballot that saw him becoming a spontaneous written-in candidate in the democratic process there...! For Chuck is a far better candidate than any of the choices on the aforementioned ballot: anything is an improvement over a Pumpkin!

The people have long suffered with the imitator - they now want the original, the genuine, the real thing!

Norris does not speak Bulgarian though, aside from a few words (hey - I'm like Chuck Norris! I'm so proud now...) nor does he aspire to embark on a political career, here or there - or anywhere! He's just been supportive of Ron Paul - that's all!

So, Bulgarians, hate to break it to you but I guess you are stuck with the Pumpkin and Co.

While Stallone and Co. are stuck with each other - and the poorly coordinated stunts that they chose to set up.

And the stuntmen company? They're stuck within a risky profession, whichever continent they operate on...

R.I.P. Kun Lieu

Pump The Pumpkin

Dober Vercher!

Now that the elections are done with - rounds 1 and 2 delivering pretty much the same dismal results - I guess it is time for a Victory Party in the Pumpkin's camp, is it not? (A victory party that is nothing akin to a BG Party - for it truly isn't any reason to party for the rest of Bulgaria, at all! Da? Da!)

How about starting with this, then:



Doberei! Pumpkin - you got away with it (again) this time but may you join your buddies in The Expendables soon: in a very short Hollywood career that shows your true colors for the rest of the world to see...

Dovijdane!
Довиждане!

Елецтион Day

A word about the elections in Bulgaria, that took place today and that exempted quite a few of the expatriates from their right to partake in the proceedings on mere bureaucratic technicalities crap - in complete undemocratic fashion, hence, of course.

Well, since it would appear that the majority of the votes that were cast went towards the same sad tendency - something that even the most sedentary of Bulgarians label as "pathetic" at best - and since those who did have a right to vote stubbornly chose to vote for "the devil they know"...

All I have to say is... too bad.

And it all gets translated via the equally sad translator known as Google Translate - because, well, those who re-elect ad nauseam the same would-be despotic creeps do not deserve the services of a *live* translator, that I would not disturb anyway for this... They state so much themselves whenever they do things like that: voting for the heirs of the communistic heritage - and then you want change?

Act coherently first if you want change.


=======================================================


Nyakolko dumi za izbori v Bŭlgariya , koyato se provede dnes i che osvobodeni dosta na emigranti ot pravoto si da uchastvat v proizvodstvoto na chisto byurokratichni gluposti tekhnicheski - v pŭlen nedemokratichni moda , a ottam , razbira se .

Ami, tŭĭ kato izglezhda , che mnozinstvoto ot glasovete, koito byakha khvŭrleni otidokha kŭm edna i sŭshta tŭzhna tendentsiya - neshto , che dori naĭ - zasednal nachin na bŭlgarite v etiketa kato " zhalki " v naĭ-dobriya sluchaĭ - i tŭĭ kato tezi, koito e pravo na glas uporito izbrali da glasuvat za " poznatoto zlo " ...

Vsichko , koeto tryabva da kazha, e ... tvŭrde losho .

I vsichko se prevezhdat chrez po-malko tŭzhen prevodach , izvesten kato Google BG , zashtoto , dobre , tezi, koito preizbiram do vtrŭsvane edni i sŭshti shte bŭde despotichen pŭlzi ne zasluzhavat uslugite na prevodach * Live * , , che az nyama da narushi taka ili inache za tova ... Te posochvat, tolkova mnogo za sebe si , kogato te pravyat neshta , taka , che: da glasuvat za naslednitsite na komunisticheskata nasledstvo - i sled tova da iskat promyana ?

Zakona sŭglasuvano pŭrvo, ako iskate promyana .


=======================================================


Няколко думи за избори в България , която се проведе днес и че освободени доста на емигранти от правото си да участват впроизводството на чисто бюрократични глупости технически - в пълен недемократични мода, а оттам, разбира се.

Ами, тъй като изглежда, че мнозинството от гласовете, които бяха хвърлени отидоха към една и съща тъжна тенденция - нещо, че дори най-заседнал начин на българите в етикета като "жалки" в най-добрия случай - и тъй като тези, които е право на глас упорито избрали да гласуват за" познатото зло "...

Всичко, което трябва да кажа, е ... твърде лошо.

И всичко се превеждат чрез по-малко тъжен преводач, известен като Google БГ, защото, добре, тези, които преизбирам до втръсване едни и същи ще бъде деспотичен пълзи не заслужават услугите на преводач * Live *,, че аз няма да наруши така или иначе за това ... Те посочват, толкова много за себе си, когато те правят неща, така, че: да гласуват за наследниците на комунистическата наследство - и след това да искат промяна?

Закона съгласувано първо, ако искате промяна.

B For Victory!

At long last, Bulgaria -
we are reacting, protesting, FIGHTING BACK!
Shades of the 500th year of Turk occupation
when the princess weaved a beautiful flag
that read "Freedom - Or Death"
and sparkled a revolution!

The "B" will really turn into a "V" - for Victory!
Cyrillic aidant, naturellement...!





Unless we hesitate - again...

Remembering A Legend

BGMusicZone remembers...




Нина Николина и Калин Вельов ще отбележат 70-годишнината от рождението на Невена Коканова с песен, посветена на покойната актриса. Композицията е озаглавена "За теб" и е в стил португалско фадо. Песента е вдъхновена от житейския път и филмовите превъплъщения на легендарната българска актриса. Снимките са реализирани на сцената на Сатиричния театър, където от 1960 г. до смъртта си през 2000 г. играе Невена Коканова.

Nina Nikolina and Kalin Velyov mark the 70th anniversary of Nevena Kokanova with a song dedicated to the late actress. The composition is titled "For You" and it is rendered in Portuguese fado style. The song was inspired by various film incarnations of the legendary Bulgarian actress. The video was shot on the stage of the Satire Theatre, the very same where, from 1960 until her death in 2000, played one Nevena Bogdanova Kokanova.


Here is the legendary actress in one of her earliest films, "Отклонение" (Detour/Sidetracked) to which she participated a mere three years removed from her most-remembered and beloved performance in "Крадецът на праскови" (The Peach-Garden Tresspasser) - a classic of Bulgarian cinema.

She'd been acting for exactly ten years at this time:




Милица Божинова и Илия Ангелов * Кадрите са от филма "Отклонение" с участието на Невена Коканова и Иван Андонов

Her biography reads as follows:
Nevena Bogdanova Kokanova (Bulgarian: Невена Богданова Коканова) (December 12, 1938 – June 3, 2000) was a Bulgarian film actress. She was known as the "first lady of Bulgarian cinema." Her mother was from a well-known Austrian aristocratic family, and her father was a political prisoner.
Kokanova was born in Dupnitsa, Bulgaria and is most renowned for her role as Lisa in The Peach-Garden Trespasser. She started her career at age 18 as an apprentice actor with the Yambol Theater in Yambol, Bulgaria. In 1980, she starred in and co-directed Three Deadly Sins with Lyubomir Sharlandzhiev.
She died in Sofia, Bulgaria from cancer.


Невена Богданова Коканова е българска актриса, наричана дълги години „първата дама на българското кино“. Майка ѝ е от известна австрийска аристократична фамилия, а баща и е бил политически затворник в Белене.[1]
Започва кариерата си като стажант-актриса на 18 години в средата на 1950-те в Ямболския театър, без да има специално образование. Изиграва над 50 роли в киното. Снима се за пръв път в ролята на Ема във филма „Години за любов“ (1957) на режисьора Янко Янков. Изпълнява ролята на Ирина от екранизацията на романа „Тютюн“ (1962) (реж. Никола Корабов), България/СССР, Жана от „Инспекторът и нощта“ (1963) (реж. Рангел Вълчанов), Лиза от „Крадецът на праскови“ (1964) (реж. Въло Радев), Ана от „Карамбол“ (1966) (реж. Любомир Шарланджиев), Неда от „Отклонение“ (1967) (реж. Гриша Островски), Герда от „С дъх на бадеми“ (1967) (реж. Любомир Шарланджиев), Тинка от „Момчето си отива“ (1972) (реж. Людмил Кирков) и много други.
През 1969 г. се снима във филма на голямата италианска кинорежисьорка Лилиана Кавани „Галилео Галилей“.
Блага Димитрова написва „Отклонение“ специално за нея. В нейна чест Министерство на културата и „Бояна Филм“ учредяват филмова награда, т. нар. „Награда на името на Невена Коканова“ за обещаващ филмов дебют на актриса. Неин съпруг е известният български режисьор Любомир Шарланджиев.Нейния брат Димитър Коканов също е актьор.
В Ямбол има Театрални празници и Драматичен театър „Невена Коканова“. На нейното име е наречен и театърът в Дупница.


The "first lady of Bulgarian cinema" had not been spared by the suffocating regime that prevailed in her country either - no one was. Her father being a political prisoner, he had been scarred for the rest of his days by his stay in a Belene incarceration center some akin much to a concentration camp. "He was not the same man when he was freed; both his wife as his daughter did not recognize him upon his release from that place." The detention conditions were, needless to say, horrible. And most captives there were indeed not criminals at all...

Despite being recognized as the first lady in her field, Nevena felt the oppression throughout her life in this stern socialist regime - such things are definitely factors in the development of cancer...

Congratulations, communists - you contributed to the disease and death of this gem of a talent, too: just as you snuffed out so many other burgeoning talents from your own garden.



R.I.P. Nevena

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Български лица през вековете

First Part of a film about the Bulgarian dissidents. This compelling documentary shows the despicable treatment that any dissident was to experience back then, from as early as 1948 all the way to the late 1980s, in two Bulgarian prisons under the administration of the communist regime.


These were Bulgarian dreamers - they dreamt of freedom, pure and simple.

The dream came true.
But they had to wait for it to come true.






Български лица през вековете


And, in closing, a collection of
Bulgarian Ballads

A Dream -And A Wish- Of Regenerescence

Dober den!

The last few years have seen a tendency developing, a trend that can only spell trouble -be it in latin or in cyrillic- for the overall nation of Bulgaria... The weak salaries offered to professionals, weakness of the overall economy and weaker still composure -not to mention underlying corruption- of the government in place has encouraged many Bulgarians to seek the realization of their dreams... elsewhere.

Bulgaria has seen its best elements move out of the country - a brain drain or elite exodus of epic proportions that has left the country without its more productive sons and daughters; those who actually could work for the future of this nation.
With roughly 7 million denizens left, Bulgaria is in trouble. For, out of those seven million, at least two million are retirees. Then there are one million -close to two million too, in truth- who are gypsies that are simply unwilling to work or educate themselves. And then there are about a million of other types - arabs, turks, muslims who are multiplying but are not there to further the cause of the Bulgarian language or their culture one bit. That leaves about two million Bulgarians that do work, supply for the entire nation and keep it afloat - for now. Two million that are keeping the fragile and ever-fragilized system running, supporting the overall population with their taxes. Two million at the service of an inept governing body led by a Pumpkin (the affectionate way they refer to their equivalent of a president; one that puts even Dubya and Sarkozy to shame in the doofus department. Think of a mix with equal parts Clouseau, Mulroney and Chuck Norris!) But we are digressing from the core subject now...

Bulgaria is one of those countries that has such a rich history, such a rich heritage, that it cannot be allowed to simply vanish over time (that is if there is enough time left for the planet overall to witness this and many other similar tragedies). The situation is rather "stable" as it is now - but the drain is very real and those who remain are not going to be lasting forever either. Several more could depart; which has prompted the Pumpkinhead to promise that he would "bring back all of those who have left the country" - left in sheer frustration with him, his corrupt government, things never changing, etc... Such a boast is farcical at best and it does not impress all of those able and apt to depart as well. And if they do, the chasm will grow ever deeper for the old-timers that remain, as they will see themselves not only in the same financial situation as they are now, but surrounded by resources-sapping gypsies and others like them. Truth be told, every retiree does have a pension and is supported, to an extent, by the flawed government; they could not possibly escape that duty (although the Pumpkinhead invites all, workers, gypsies, assorted ones and retirees as well, to "grow their own potatoes" since few can afford to buy them anymore... But that is another story.) Now, please note that the social welfare programs aren't nearly as generous as the ones seen in North America or even in a few other spots across Europe - of course. Still, they can suffice and maintain the balance in Bulgaria - but not eternally - since the majority do not have one major monthly expense well-known to "eat with you at the table" as my great-grandmother used to say: rent. Most Bulgarians, indeed, own their homes as they have inherited them over the years; most have not been foolish enough to sell the property upon inheritance and move to the big city where they cannot afford, on meager wages, to invest in another property, and wind up renting therefore. Wages: that is another problem in Bulgaria, as we mentioned, remember...? Miraculously, such cases are the clear minority in Bulgaria: and so, even retirees with next-to-nothing coming in every month in terms of a "pension" still manage to get by - perhaps by growing their own potatoes as well, as the Pumpkinhead suggested, since most also own suitable land to grow things...

But all of those are economical concerns - facts of daily life on this flawed globe...

And the language, the culture, the Cyrillic alphabet in all this...?

They are all in danger.
In danger of extinction, nothing less.

Already, as a member of the European Union, Bulgaria stands isolated with its native tongue. The one country they have most in common with is Russia - not an endearing factor for the E.U. of course. Romania, Macedonia, Greece are all like distant, very distant cousins... The totally phonetic language conceived by two monks lo, long ago, has become a LUXURY that can still be afforded: and, sure, many are found to speak it and only it all across the villages surrounding Sofia, the capital, as well as in that capital city itself. However, English is a necessity for ALL members of the European Union - and the new generation gets initiated to it very fast. Most of them will be working in that language, also, and prefer it over their own for most all manners of entertainment. Like a Quebec caught up in between the constant influx of English Canada and USA input; or like an Israel surrounded by Muslim countries - Bulgaria is surrounded by countries that have already adopted English as its second language or language of business, all the while developing a very thorough tourist industry of their own. Meanwhile, Bulgaria timidly welcomes tourists and curious travellers on their way to Italy, Greece or some other destination...! Service in English is rare and it is almost imperative to secure your very own private interpreter...! While this may help in protecting their language and culture, in the short term, it impedes every other form of progress the country desperately needs. And, more and more, it all seems to be heading towards a cul-de-sac without any practical solution (and that is another problem right there: the over-abundance of French expressions that have become an intrinsic part of the Bulgarian language. French is not the language to absorb; English is!)

Bulgaria needs to address all these questions - and they need to do so fast.

There has to be a program to insure the protection of their language all the while creating an openness to the world - because ignoring the invasion of latin-based languages is clearly not the way to proceed. Developing a solid tourist industry is key: all the while nurturing the home language and culture, imposing that most of the scholarity has to be completed in that language and a foreign language course can only be chosen near the end of the basic schooling. It has worked elsewhere and, somehow, surrounded cultures have managed to survive and even multiply, if not entirely thrive... So it can be done here too, even with the added complication of imposing the learning and maintaining of two vastly different sets of alphabets for everyday usage by all. It is something easily implantable - as the younger generation is already eager to familiarize itself with not just the language but the culture behind it. There is the problematic aspect of organized crime's presence behind many if not all touristic ventures around Sofia; but that problem, as it reaches deep into the core infrastructure of the entire nation's governmental system. Seeing as this is a nefarious and oh-so regrettable side-effect of sorts of the old communist regime that stultified the entire country while slowing its progress, it is too vast a subject to be dealt with here and now. It will be the focus of a future essay - also in engliski! All to further pave the way for tourism in true form; one needs to practice the language used by a good 90% of the potential tourists (not to mention this blogger pundit as well!)

Bulgaria will join the European Union in full throttle soon - and shed its currency (cry, cry) for the common use of the mighty Euro. That is but step one of the restructuration and regeneration.

Bulgaria can regenerate itself - it only has to start doing so ASAP.

Dosvidanei!

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Bulgarians Dream Of Dancing...

And not only do they dream of it - 

they just do it! 

Dobrei...

Post by Radio NRJ (ENERGY) Bulgaria.

чудо!

Even though so many of them are avowed 

(and abysmal - but that's another story)

atheists without much of any hope at all, 

all Bulgarians do dream of such a thing: 

of a miracle...

to get rid of the after-effects of communism... 

to be rid of all forms of corruption 
which are eroding the beauty, 
the livelihood and the potential 
of this great nation...

to reclaim their land - 
as a land of true PARADISIACAL quality!


Aye, it is a MIRACLE that they are awaiting.

And it is none of these:

Гледах за една...